Radio Netherlands Worldwide's Moscow correspondent Geert Groot Koerkamp married his Russian wife nearly 12 years ago. As long as Geert and his family stay living in Russia, all is well. But Dutch law creates so many obstructions there is little chance of their ever managing to move to the Netherlands.

“Don’t do it. Much too difficult and the chances are you won’t succeed.” This was the advice a Dutch diplomat once gave an acquaintance of mine who was considering moving back to the Netherlands. He recommended trying Germany, France or Belgium.

The Netherlands has a good name in Russia. It’s one of the country’s biggest investors. Dutch expertise is helping to build flood defences in St Petersburg, gas pipelines on the Yamal Peninsula, oil platforms in the Sea of Okhotsk. The Dutch recovered the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine. And Dutch managers have produced major success stories in Russian football.

Bureaucracy
The Netherlands also has the reputation of being a welcoming and tolerant country. As a correspondent, I’ve frequently been called on by Russian radio or television to explain Dutch policy on drugs, prostitution or euthanasia. But I’ve never been able to offer a satisfying explanation of the country’s policy on family reunion.

It’s no problem for the citizens of any European Union member state to move to the Netherlands. But for a Dutch citizen with a partner from a non-EU country, the gates remain unrelentingly shut, to be heaved open only with luck and a great deal of effort. And this is hard for the average Russian to comprehend. Russians are used to bureaucracy. But if you’ve been married to a Russian citizen for three years, you’re entitled to fast-track Russian citizenship.

Quagmire
My Russian wife and I have been married for nearly 12 years. We have no definite plans to move to the Netherlands with our children as yet. We have strong ties with the Netherlands, but now you can get a five-year visa, at least we can have contact with both sets of relatives, and the children are able to feel at home in both countries. At present that’s the most important thing and there’s no immediate reason to move. But things could change, if I changed my job, or the children wanted to study in the Netherlands.

Why wouldn’t I simply be able to return to my own country with my family? Russian friends can scarcely believe I would have to plunge into a quagmire of bureaucracy with no guarantee of success. Or that it makes no difference how long you’ve been married. Or that your wife has been to the Netherlands countless times, each time obediently returning to Russia. Or that she’s the mother of three Dutch citizens, and daughter-in-law, sister-in-law and aunt to Dutch people. “But you’re married, aren’t you?” asks Dima, frowning. “What’s the problem?” I don’t have an answer.

Patriotism
In 2002 fellow correspondent Hubert Smeets wrote Welcome to the kingdom, an ironically titled but depressing book about the exhausting and infuriating struggle he and his Russian wife had with Dutch bureaucracy on moving from Russia to the Netherlands. Dutch people returning to the Netherlands, enriched by their experiences abroad, might indeed expect to receive a welcome. They might expect their country to have a sympathetic attitude, or – to use a word that is currently fashionable in the Dutch immigration debate – a loyalty towards its citizens. Far from it. Many a life has been disrupted by the lack of such a welcome. And many a sense of patriotism has been shaken.

Photos: Geert Groot Koerkamp/RNW